The show is unhosted, instead focussing on the personalities of the unique figures who have created middle-of-the-night institutions of various kinds across the region, letting the characters tell their own stories in their own way.
In Seoul, the show meets a quirky elderly couple who runs one of the city’s famed late-night fried chicken stands, a rock band leading the indie scene that is exploding in the shadow of K-pop, and an innovative traditional rice wine maker giving his spin on Korean youth’s current fixation on “Neutro” — contemporary twists on local cultural traditions.
“Through this nocturnal lens, the show shines a light on these hidden gems of culinary secrets, subcultures, or unconventional passions that are almost invisible in the daytime, but come to life in a really vibrant way at nighttime,” says Aloke Devichand, who overseas documentaries for Netflix in the Asia-Pacific region.was developed and produced by Singapore-based showrunner Joe Evans of regional production company In Focus Asia .
“When the pandemic started, the show was right at the beginning stages, so we made a strong pivot to working with local directors and local creators on the ground in the various cities,” Devichand explains. “That was done, initially, in order to respond to the new realities of the pandemic; but actually it was really awesome for the show as well, because it brought an even deeper, local lens to the stories we were discovering and the way that we’re telling them.
He adds: “It really helped the creative concept of the show, which is bringing this very rich, authentic, alternative lens on Asia’s great cities.”